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England 



a 



Destroyer of Nations 

by Rudolf Cronau 



PRICE 10 CENTS 



Copyright, 1915, by Rudolf Cronau. 

340 East 198tti Street 

New York City 



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s 

The following article is a reprint of chapter two of the 



SIR: 



British Black Book 

by RUDOLF CRONAU. 

This book, one of the strongest ever published in the 
United States, has been written to promote true Americanism 
and the spirit of fair play. It contains the following chapters: 

The Giant Octopus. 

England, a Destroyer of Nations. 

Germany's wonderhil Rise and Success, the real Cause 

for England's present War. 

The unholiest Conspiracy in History. 

Honi soit qui mal y pense. 

The tentacles and ink-sac of the Giant Octopus and how 

it uses them. 
The German Emperor, Lord of War or Prince of Peace? 

German atrocities — ''made in England." 
German Militarism or British Navalism, which b the 

Menace? 
Does America need a Third War for Independence? 

Since many publishers of American newspapers and other 
periodicals have subjected themselves to the influence of 
British news agencies and forced their staff to ignore this 
"British Black Book" in order to withhold from their readers 
the real facts in regard to the origin and events of the present 
European war, your co-operation in recommending this book to 
your friends would be highly appreciated. 

Copies of the "British Black Book" may be obtained by 
sending one dollar in check or money order to the author. 

If 10 copies are ordered* 40 per cent discount allowed. 

Very respectfully, 

RUDOLF CRONAU. 
New York, 

340 East 198th Street. 



MAY i 1315 



England a destroyer of Nations. 

It is a long list of transgressions — stretching over four cent- 
uries — ^which is here enrolled before the eyes of the reader, 
it informs him of the rise and fall of brilliantly gifted nations, 
successful in the development of their culture, industry and 
commerce, and who, achieving prosperity, even wealth, there- 
by awakened the jealousy, the envy and greed of England, 
which thereafter destroyed and despoiled them by cunning 
and violance. 1 have, in the following, given only those facts, 
the truth of which the reader can easily ascertain and from 
which he can draw his own conclusions about England's poli- 
cies during the past four centuries. 

Elnglandy the Originator of Spain's Downfall. 

The discovery of America by Columbus, the conquest of 
Mexico and Peru by Cortes and Pizarro, the exploitation of 
the gold-lands of Central America had made the Spain of the 
1 6th century the richest land on the globe. Great fleets of 
treasure-laden galleons brought, year-in, year-out, new riches 
to Spain's rulers. But they also aroused the greed of English 
mariners, who, with the silent approbation of their government, 
went forth to prey upon the Spanish gold- and silver-ships 
home bound from the Americas. 

It must be stated right here, that in those days friendly re- 
lations existed between Spain and England, that the two 
countries were at peace, wherefor the secret approval by the 
English Government of the piracy places the same in an un- 
favorable light. By it the English Government made itself an 
accomplice and abettor on a large scale. 

To show the low state of the morals prevciiling in England 
in those days, it will be necessary to peruse at some length the 
activity of those freebooters, which are heralded by English 
histories as "the great heroes of the sea." This retrospection 
is necessary because we wish to show that the pernicious in- 
fluence emanating from them poisoned the miorals of the 
English nation for centuries to come and has stamped its 
characteristics on their government to our day. 

The first of these "heroes of the sea*' was William Hawkins, 
of Plymouth. He it was who undertook the first slave hunts 



— 4 — 

to the coast of Guinea and began that African slave trade in 
which England was engaged for nearly three centuries. 

His son, John Hawkins, continued this lucrative business 
with eager persistency and grew rich. At the same time he 
was very pious and godfearing. When, invading a negro vil- 
lage near Sierra Leone, he almost fell into captivity himself and 
was exposed to the same fate, which he had inflicted, with- 
out compunction, upon thousands of others, he wrote in his 
logbook: "God, who worketh all things for the best, would not 
have it so, and by Him all escaped without danger; His name 
be praysed for it." At another time, when his vessels were be- 
calmed for a long time in midocean and great suffering ensued : 
"But Almighty God, who never suffereth His elect to perish, 
sent us the sixteene of Februarie the ordinarie Breeze, which 
is the northwest winde." 

From which record it becomes evident that the English even 
in those days, whatever their questionable trades might have 
been, carried the name of God in their sacrilegeous mouths 
but cared damnably little for His commandments of brotherly 
love. 

For the negroes, carried off in Africa, Hawkins found a 
ready market in Brazil, the West Indies and Mexico, though 
King Philip II. of Spain had strictly forbidden all dealings with 
Hawkins. To give the poorer settlers a chance to obtain lab- 
orers at low price, many officials tacitly permitted the 
bargain. In smaller towns, where authorities objected, Haw- 
kins hushed the officials in having the boats, carrying the neg- 
roes, escorted by a force of some hundred men in armor, with 
cannon sufficient to awe the authorities, whereupon the slave- 
trade began. On account of complaints being sent to Spain 
concerning this unusual mode of carrying on business, the for- 
mer inhibition was made more severe. But in spite of it the 
Englishman continued his lucrative voyages, well knowing that 
by so doing he was winning the applause of the English crown. 
Indeed, Queen Elizabeth, because of the riches Hawkins had 
brought to England, knighted him and granted him a coat of 
arms. 

Translated from the jargon of heraldy, this patent of nobility 
meant, that he might bear on his black shield a golden lion 
rampant over blue waves. Above the lion were three golden 
dublons, representing the riches Hawkins had brought to 
England. To give due credit to the piety of this "nobleman 
there was in the upper quartering of the shield a pilgrim's 
scallop-shell in gold, flanked by two pilgrim's staffs, indicating 
that Hawkin's slave-hunts were genuine crusades, undertaken m 



— 5 — 

the name of Christendom. For a crest this coat-of-arm» shows 
the half-length figure of a negro, with golden armlets on his 
arm and ears, but bound and captive. 

To show to what extent the name of Christianity was abused, 
Hawkins, when in 1567 entering upon his greatest expedition 
with five ships, sacrilegeously baptized his flagship: "Jesus 
Christ." 

But when this slave dealer imagined himself under the spec- 
ial protection of the heavenly host, he had made a miscalcu- 
lation. For, when he arrived with 500 slaves in West India, 
he unexpectedly met, in the harbor of St. Juan de Ulloa with 
a strong Spanish fleet which burned three of his ships and de- 
feated him so completely that he, with the remaining vessels 
was driven to sea without provisions. 

How ill he fared on his homeward trip, Hawkins thus plain= 
tively described in the following passage of his logbook: "With 
many sorrowful hearts we wandred in an unknowen Sea, tyll 
hunger enforced us to seeke the lande, for birds were thought 
ver>' good meat, rats, cattes, mise, and dogges, none escaped 
that might be gotten, parrotes and monkyes, that were had 
in great prize, were thought then very profitable if they served 
the turn one dinner. If all the miseries and troublesome af- 
faires of this sorrowful voyage should be perfectly and thor- 
oughly written, there should need a paynstaking man with his 
pen, and as great a time as he had that wrote the lives and 
deathes of the martirs." 

Among the martyrs of this eventful voyage was Francis 
Drake, who, later on, became the most famous of the "great" 
English sea heroes." 

From the time of that disaster Drake took up as a profession 
the work of plundering the Spaniards, for, after his arrival in 
England he, with the connivance of the government openly 
set out with the sole purpose of preying upon Spanish com- 
merce and colonies. Of him his Spanish contemporaries speak 
only as of the "archpirate of the Universe" who, like a dragon, 
pounced upon Spain's colonies to devastate them. The great- 
est of his several predatory voyages covered a period of three 
years. Well equipped, accompanied by many English "noble- 
men" and able mariners, sure of the pious well wishes of his 
government, this buccaneer left Plymouth on Nov. 15th, 1577 
with five ships. — When he returned, rich in booty, the Spanish 
ambassador to the English Court demanded that Drake be ar- 
rested and tried for piracy. But the English Government ig- 
nored this request. Moreover, Queen Elizabeth showed her 
approval of Drake's acts and her aversion toward Spaniards 



in the most demonstrative manner possible in proceeding April 
4th, 1581 with her court to Deptford visiting Drake aboard 
his ship which lay at anchor there, dining with him and knight- 
ing him. 

This open sanction of piracy and almost unbelievable insult 
to a friendly nation started that terrible war, in which, to over- 
come Spain's power on the high seas, every alliance with other 
nations appeared proper to England. It not only formed an 
alliance with the Netherlands, then in rebellion against Spain, 
but also with its arch enemy, France, and even with Turkey. 

In the hostilities ensuing, England found unexpectedly an 
ally in the very elements. When in 1588 the famous Armada 
appeared in the Canal, to punish England for the numberless 
offenses against the Spanish flag, the great fleet ran into 
terrible storms, which played such a havoc with it, that many 
vessels became wrecks. Others were attacked and burned by 
Dutch and English war vessels. Of the one hundred and thirty- 
five ships, compromising the Armada, only fifty-four returned 
to Spain. By this catastrophe Spain's power on the high seas 
was crippled so seriously, that she could interpose but little 
resistance against the furious attacks of Drake, Cavendish, 
Morgan and the countless other freebooters. Spain's pre- 
dominance on the seas was lost. Too weak to oppose, she could 
not prevent the violent plundering of her rich West Indian 
cities by English, French and Dutch pirates, who also despoiled 
her of a number of her finest islands: Jamaica, San Domingo 
and many other of the lesser Leeward Islands. 

By the many wicked acts of these buccaneers the Carribbean 
Sea became for centuries the most dangerous water on the 
globe. He, who studies the history of the Atlantic navigation 
of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries encounters everywhere 
striking proofs of how piracy, favored by the English Govern- 
ment, grew like a malevolent cancer, poisoning the morals of 
nations. Who wants to convince himself of this fact may con- 
sult in our public libraries the books on the Buccaneers, on Sir 
Henry Morgan, and last, not least. Captain William Kidd, 
who had been sent by the English Government to suppress buc- 
caneering, yet instead turned pirate himself, who covered up 
his countless misdeeds by scuttling the vessels he captured and 
plundered, and sending them to the bottom of the sea with 
man and mouse. His spoils, buried somewhere, are still the 
goal of treeisure hunters. 

The success gained by Hawkins, Drake and other great and 
small *'8ea heroes" demonstrated to the English conclusively 
the importance of the control of the sea. As early as 1612 



Chancellor Bacon wrote: "lie who rules the sea has many ad- 
vantages. He can, at his option, interfere in any war, while 
the greatest land powers are often in stfaits." From the dis- 
covery of this fact dates the aim of the English to gain the 
supremacy at sea and to destroy all rivals who might dare to 
enter into competition with them, on the ocean. 

England, the Destroyer of Holland's Greatness. 

When England had annihilated Spain's supremacy on the 
seas it turned against Holland. After her separation from the 
German Empire, Holland had by dint of indefatigable indust= 
ry and the intelligence and energy of her inhabitants during 
the 1 6th and the 1 7th centuries reached a state of extraordin- 
ary prosperity. She maintained many flourishing industries 
which were distributed over her various cities. Haarlem was 
famous for its excellent linens, its beautiful flowers and its 
extensive trade in tulip-bulbs; Leyden furnished the finest 
broadcloth; Delft had gained a reputation for its hardware 
and its excellent brews; Zaandam was celebrated for its ship- 
building; Enkhuizen had an extensive fish trade, mainly in her- 
rings. At the same time Holland had secured a large part 
of the worlds commerce. Middelburg was the principal ex- 
port harbor for French wines; Dordrecht traded with England; 
Terweer with Scotland; Friesland with Iceland and Greenland; 
Flushing with the West Indies; Amsterdam with Spain, the 
countries bordering the Mediterranean and with East India. 
Besides, Holland possessed many valuable colonies; in Asia, 
for instance, Ceylon, Celebes, Java and several others of the 
Sunda Islands. In Hindostan it maintained trading stations 
which supplied Europe with valuable spices and products from 
China and Japan. In the Western hemisphere the Dutch had, 
in 1614, founded the Colony New Netherland, the chief trad 
ing post of which, Niew Amsterdam, had been raised to high 
prosperity by Peter Minnewit, a German in Dutch service. In 
South America Holland possessed Curacao and Surinam. At 
the South end of Africa, Dutch colonists had laid the founda- 
tion of those Boer settlements which afterward became im- 
portant as the Free States. About 1650, Holland had reached 
the zenith of her power. Her commerce was five times larger 
than Englands; her merchant marine constituted four- fifths 
of the entire European mercantile fleet. Her national wealth 
was much greater than that of England. Arts and sciences 
flourished. 

All through the nation pulsated that virile and joyful life. 



_ 8 — 

expressed so exquisitely in the paintings of the great contem- 
poraneous masters of the Dutch School. — It was this very for- 
tunate state of affairs, that the envy and rapacity of England 
could not endure. And so it intrigued to cut off the source of 
Dutch prosperity: its trade. The Navigation Act, issued in 
1651, was the first blow at Holland. This law prohibited the 
import of all foreign merchandise into England and her colon- 
ies in ships not flying the English flag, or the flag of the coun- 
try from which they were exported. 

This utterly crushed Holland's commerce as far as England 
and her colonies were concerned. All efforts of Holland to 
bring about an amelioration of conditions peacefully availed 
naught. On the contrary, Holland was soon driven to defend 
her commerce by force of arms. Three extraordinarily bitter 
naval wars were fought, of which the first — beginning in 
1652, — though it remained indecisive, inflicted heavy losses 
on Holland's commerce. In less than fifteen months she lost 
over sixteen hundred merchant ships. The commerce with the 
Baltic countries was almost destroyed, and the herring fishery 
and whaling was interrupted. In Amsterdam all business came 
to a standstill. More than three thousand houses were vacant. 
This enormous loss was caused largely by English privateers 
who were little better than pirates. 

A second naval war began in 1665, a year after four Eng- 
lish frigates — without any previous declaration of war — had 
sneaked into the harbor of Niew Amsterdam and, by directing 
their sixty heavy guns upon the small settlement, had forced 
the surrender of this weakly defended post. "We need a great- 
er part of the Dutch trade; it is immaterial what we employ to 
force war!" Thus the English Government had declared and 
had acted accordingly. 

The bitter war was renewed, resulting in victories for the 
great Dutch Admirals Van Tromp and De Ruyter. The latter, 
in the battle of New Foreland, defeated the English fleet so 
completely that she was compelled to flee up the Thames 
River. Even after England had secured the assistance oi 
France, De Ruyter beat the united fleets of the Allies on July 7 
1672, at Southwell, and convoyed a fleet of Dutch merchant- 
men safely to their home-harbors. 

But the incessant and ravishing wars which little Holland 
had to carry on against her mighty neighbors, England and 
France, consumed her strength. Exhausted, she had to enter 
into peace negotiations, in which she lost, beside her colony 
Niew Netherland, her settlements in South Africa, beautiful 
Ceylon, and her trading stations in Hindostan. Thus 



Holland's position as a maritime power was wrecked, and, like 
Spain, she was reduced to the status of a minor sea power. 

England, the Arch-foe of France. 

After the British had humiliated Spain and Holland, they 
forced France, her whilom ally in the struggle with Holland, 
to the knees. 

The position of France at this period was supreme on the 
European continent and she was almost the equal of England 
on the high seas. Her commerce was flourishing. As early as 
the 15 th century and at the beginning of the 16th, French 
sailors visited the New Foundland Banks, known for their 
enormous wealth in fishes. The French furnished the Catholic 
countries of Europe with dried fish, which formed the prin- 
cipal diet during the many religious fasting days. In connec- 
tion with these trips the French discovered vast stretches of 
the North-American continent. Verrazano explored, as the 
first, in 1524 the whole coast from North Carolina to Maine, 
whereby he also discovered New York Bay. Ten years later 
Cartier discovered the St. Lawrence River as well as the coasts 
of New Brunswick and Canada. Then followed the import- 
ant explorations by Ribault, Champlain, La Salle and many 
other so-called "voyageurs." In these great areas, comprising 
the system of the St. Lawrence as well as of the Mississippi, 
the French founded two great empires: New France and Loui- 
siana. The first stretched from the mouth of the St. Lawrence 
westward to the Great Lakes, and across the Ohio and down to 
the mouth of the Mississippi. Louisiana included all the terri- 
tory west of the **Father of Waters." In time it became more 
and more evident that France had gotten the best and most 
fertile part of North America. The British were not slow to 
perceice this fact and with this perception began their un- 
tiring efforts to dislodge their more fortunate rivals from their 
rich possessions. Encroaching constantly on French territory 
they started that system of border war-fare, which lasted with 
short intervals from 1 689 to 1 763. These wars reached an 
appaling character when the English as well as the French per- 
suaded the Indians under their influence, to help in the mutual 
murder. In this savage butchery German emigrants from the 
Palatinate, which the English had settled at the most 
exposed points, had to bear the brunt of the hostile assaults. 
The chronicles of the Germans in Maine, in the valleys of the 
Mohawk and Schoharie of the Colony New York, in the Blue 
Mountains of Pennsylvania, and of numerous other places con- 



— 10 — 

tain many stories of horrible excesses to which these settlers 
were exposed, without the Colonial Government bothering it- 
self much about the fate of these unfortunate outposts. In 1 754 
the great war, which was to settle the predominance in America, 
broke out. It lasted nine years and brought new sufferings 
to the German settlers in the frontier districts. 

The terrible struggle, which was also carried on in Europe, 
ended by the Peace of Paris in 1 763. It cost France her colo- 
nial empires in North America, that she had established and 
developed with enormous efforts and outlay of money. More- 
over the French lost the West Indian Islands Granada, St. Vin- 
cent, Dominique and Tobago. England's magnamity left 
France nothing but the two minute islets of St. Pierre and Mi- 
quelon, south of New Foundland, in the neighborhood of which 
the French sailors are allowed to fish, in order that they might 
supply their co-religiously with cod fish. 

. But England was not yet satisfied with these results. Con- 
stantly keeping in view the idea of becoming the sole mistress 
of the seas, it was incessantly busy destroying also France's 
maritime power. This desire was satisfied during the wars of 
all Europe against Napoleon I, in the two naval battles at 
Aboukir (July 1st, 1798) and Trafalgar (October 2 1st, 1805) 
both of which were won by England's greatest admiral, Nelson. 
On account of these defeats, Napoleon had to forego his in- 
tention of attacking his most hated enemies, the English, m 
their own country, as he had no vessels left to transport his 
armies thither. With the battle of Trafalgar the French flag 
was driven from the ocean, and France, as a sea power, became 
a negligible factor for many years to come. 

England destroys Commerce and Fleet of Neutral Denmark. 

During the Napoleonic period England seized the opportun- 
ity to deprive another nation of its fleet and commerce: the 
Danes. Denmark had succeeded in obtaining a part of the 
world's trade, and, for its protection, had created a navy, small 
but efficient. During the Napoleonic wars Denmark remained 
strictly neutral, had however entered a so-called neutral con= 
federacy with Sweden, Russia and Prussia. This confederacy 
had been formed to prevent England from searching vessels 
of the various neutral countries for contraband of war. Such 
a neutral alliance was so much the more necessary as England 
had repeatedly seized Swedish and Danish frigates, which were 
to prevent such search, and had taken them to English ports. 
To force Denmark's withdrawal from this confederacy and 



to make it the unconditional vassal of England, there appeared 
in Spring 1801, an enormous English fleet before Copenhagen 
and opened on the 2nd day of April a bombardment on the 
peaceful city and its fortifications. This unwarranted assault, 
which took place while the two nations were at peace, worked 
great havoc everywhere. Though the Danes could not hope 
for victory, they nevertheless sturdily defended their city» 
causing the English a loss of one thousand men and consider^ 
able damage to their ships. The hostilities ceased when the 
news arrived of the assassination of the Czar Paul, whereby 
the neutral confederacy appeared to be dissolved. Averse to 
becoming a vassal of England, Denmark maintained its neu- 
tral position also during the following years, thereby provok- 
ing the wrath of England to an even greater degree. It was 
July 31st, 1807, when Lord Castlereagh in open Parliament 
declared: "A large expedition will be fitted out, but those, 
whom it concerns, will not hear of it until they feel the death- 
blow in their neck." And indeed, on the 16th of August there 
appeared before unsuspecting Copenhagen thirty-six English 
warships and five hundred large transports. While the latter 
landed an army of 30,000 men which besieged the city from 
the landside, the fleet blockaded the harbor and shelled the 
city five days and nights. After twenty-eight streets with all 
the palaces, houses and churches had been utterly destroyed 
and more than 2,000 inhabitants had perished, the survivors 
submitted to the terms of the brutal intruders. Denmark was 
forced to surrender her whole navy, consisting of eighteen bat- 
tleships, fifteen frigates, six briggs and twenty-five gunboats 
to the English, who, before their departure, destroyed also on 
the wharves all machines and equipment which they could not 
carry off. With one blow Denmark's commerce and defense 
were destroyed for decades to come. All this was done in a 
time of peace between the two nations, and without declara- 
tion of war by the nation, which to-day poses as the protecting 
arch-angel of Belgium and as the upholder of morals in the 
international dealings. 

The celebrated German historian Onken declared this act 
as an outrage unparralleled in history, committed against a 
neutral state, the only transgression of which was its weak de- 
fense and which, in consequence was attacked from ambush, 
pirate-fashion, strangled almost to death, robbed and then left 
bleeding by the way-side, a glaring example of the tyrannical 
depravity the armed English shop-keepers were capable of and 
who on their domain, — the sea, feared no longer any rival.** 

After this ignoble exploit the English Government declared 



by ministerial Ordinance (18th and 26th of November 1807) 
that all European harbors, which, on account of Napoleon's 
Continental System refused to admit English vessels, would be 
blockaded. Moreover, all ships of neutrals had to submit to 
contraband search by English cruisers and they were ordered 
under threat of confiscation to stop in English harbors before 
proceeding to the points of their destination. By this England 
bluntly declared that it would not recognize neutral states, 
ships, harbors and flags, but would treat every one as an en- 
emy, who would not submit to English omnipotence. 

England, the Scourge of Ireland. 

England's nearest neighbors, the Irish, also belong to the 
nations who had to suffer from the violence and cupidity of 
the British. Erin, the "Emerald Isle" had in the early Middle- 
Ages reached a high standard of culture alnd wcis an abode 
of Sciences and Arts, whence the first rays of Christianity rad- 
iated over the nations north of Europe, enveloped as yet in 
barbarism. This opulent position of the fair island aroused 
the Anglo-Saxon cupidity of a very early date, and they made 
frequent raids into Ireland, until during the days of Cromwell 
the whole island was subjected to English rule. In these 
times the black-browed puritanism committed horrible cruel- 
ties against the Irish, who were Catholics. From 1 641 to 1 652 
over 500,000 perished by sword, famine and disease. Al- 
most 100,000 others were banished and their land and prop- 
erty confiscated. Those remaining were driven into the most 
barren parts of Ireland, where they had difficulties to main- 
tain their lives. The sequestrated property was handed over 
to English and Scotch colonists or to favorites of the kings. 
Complaisant concubines were not forgotten, as for instance 
Elizabeth Villiers, who was created Countess of Orkney. Re- 
bellions were suppressed with indescribable brutality and the 
confiscation repeated, where a few of the Irish had escaped be- 
fore. In the interest of the English landlords, manufacturers 
and merchants, the growth of the Irish cattle breeding, industry 
and commerce was suppressed. When the Irish started to ex- 
port cattle, sheep, butter and eggs to England, this was for- 
bidden upon the instigation of the English cattle raisers. When 
they started to spin wool and manufacture worsted goods the 
Parliament, in 1 699, passed a law forbidding their export to 
foreign countries. The magnificent harbors of Ireland, in or- 
der to exclude competition with the ports of England, were 
not to be used and so finally became desolated. The suffrage 



— 13 — 

was abolished. All these oppressions kindled in the hearts of 
the Irish that hatred which,, becoming hereditary from gen- 
eration to generation, evidenced itself in countless conspiracies, 
and to-day burns in the hearts of the Irish fiercer than ever. 
When England lost her North American colonies, it flared 
up anew in a revolt, which, however, was suppressed at the 
cost of some 30,000 lives. The pitiable situation of the Irish 
became still worse. Reduced to the condition of tenants on 
their own former property, they were dependent more than 
ever upon the greed of their English landlords. By 1 840 their 
misery and poverty was so abject that thousands of tenants 
could not pay their land rent, whereupon they were driven 
from their holdings by soldiers sent from England for this 
purpose. At the same time crops failed and starvation ensued, 
carrying off thousands. It was now that the exodus of the 
masses started, which deprived Ireland of over 3,764,000 per- 
sons, within the forty years 1841 to 1880. The majority of 
these emigrants found an asylum in the United States, where 
they established new homes, but still remember their "Green 
Erin" in melancholy sorrow. 

Ejigland, the Vampire of India. 

India, in the 1 6th and 1 7th centuries consisted of a large 
number of independent principalities and kingdoms, the rulers 
of which allowed the Portuguese, Dutch and French traders 
to lease real-estate in certain places along the coast and there 
to erect trading stations. As these traders gained enormous 
profits an English "East India Company" was organized in 
1612 and by the government furnished with far reaching priv- 
ileges. Not only did it hold within its domains the criminal 
jurisdiction, but also the entire political administration of the 
land. England could not have put the management of its in= 
terests into abler hands. For, in the leaders of this "East In- 
dia Company" were concentrated the spirit of piracy, the hy- 
pocrisy, the crafty deceit, the audacity and brutality of the 
"great sea heroes." They succeeded, by intrigues and force, 
not only in driving away their Portugese, Dutch and French 
rivals but, by cunning interference with the quarrels of the In- 
dian princes, by supporting and playing off one ruler against 
the others to gain so great an influence in India, that they 
could venture from their secret to an open policy of conquest. 
This policy found its most audacious and inscrupulous exponent 
in Robert Clive who, in 1744 had come to Madras and in a 
most ingenious way exploited all occasions to increase the 



— 14 — 

power of the Company. Madras as well as the Bengal with 
the rich cities Calcutta, Benares and Allahabad became British 
and by this the victims of systematic plundering, which 
brought fabulous riches to the Company and made Clive the 
wealthiest man of his time. Since he had, like Hawkins and 
Drake, amassed so great a wealth for his country, it was but 
natural that he was knighted, as had been those pirates. This, 
however, did not prevent certain members of the Parliament, 
who were indignant over his terrible acts and rapacity, from 
arraigning him as a criminal and demanding his punishment 
because he abused the power with w^hich he was entrusted to 
"the evil example of the servants of the public, and to the dis- 
honor and detriment of the State." 

The Government, however, could not allow the condemna- 
tion of a man who so clearly personified its own principles. It 
could not be expected to brand itself with the mark of in- 
famy. — Therefore, the House of Commons found it proper not 
to vote on the arraignment, but to substitute a decision instead: 
"that Lord Clive has rendered to his country great and valu- 
able services." Clive shortly afterward ended a suicide. Of 
his successors Warren Hastings continued the methods used by 
Clive. Undermining one principality after another, he brought 
them to fall by his cunning or caused them by force to seek 
the "high protection of England." By allowing his officers to 
follow^ his example and to enrich themselves at every oppor- 
tunity the Indian population was subjected to incessant op- 
pression. Revolts were put down with such inhuman cruelty, 
that a number of English philantropists in 1 786, on account 
of "high crimes and misdemeanors" demanded the impeach- 
ment of Hastings. The proceedings lastet 8 years, but ended 
in the verdict, by the House of Lords, "not guilty." — 

During the 19th century all principalities between the In- 
dus and Brahmaputra were subjugated; in the West the fron- 
tiers were extended over Baloochistan as far as Persia, in the 
East over Burma and Siam, and in the North as far as Tibet. 
All this was done by shocking cruelties. The famous paint- 
ing by Vereschagin, showing captured Hindus tied to the 
mouths of cannons to be shot into a thousand atoms, gives an 
adequate idea of this phase of English pacification and her 
civilization. 

Even to-day India is nothing to England but an object of 
regardless plundering. Once enormously wealthy, India is to- 
day a luckless land in which famines, sweeping away millions of 
people, return frequently, a land whose history is filled with 
English crimes, with blood and tears, a land whose inhabitsmts 



— 15 — 

curse the British and long for the day on which they can shake 
off their shackles. 

England as Poisoner of the Chinese Nation. 

The "Most Honorable East India Company," the activity 
of which we have just now related, committed many crimes 
beside those in India. And these are so atrocious that probably 
no more shocking were ever perpetrated in the history of man- 
kind. Only cold-blooded cupidity, bare of all conscience, 
could lead the "East India Company" to demoralize and poison 
a whole nation numbering hundreds of millions. This was done 
with opium. This narcotic has been known in Asia since the 
13th century; in China however, it was only used medically, 
as a cure against fever and dysenteria. As late as 1 750, while the 
opium trade was in the hands of the Portuguese, the import of 
opium into China did not exceed 200 chests per year. Things 
changed when in 1773 the "East India Company" snatched 
the opium monopoly away from the Portuguese and started 
the opium-culture in Bengal on a grand scale. As early as 1 776 
the importation into China had increased to 1,000 chests, and 
fourteen years later to 4054 chests at 149)4 pounds each, eis 
nothing was left undone to induce the Chinese to the en- 
snaring nature of the poison. — ^When, with the increasing con- 
sumption of opium by the Chinese the terrible results of its 
habitual use began to appear and when the population of 
whole districts fell into retrogression and lingering disease, the 
Chinese Government, thoroughly alarmed, forbade the further 
importation of the drug and punished all opium smokers with 
severe penalties. When these measures, taken for the pro- 
tection of the nation, were found to be insufficient, the penal- 
ties were made to be banishment and death. In order to re- 
move the evil with the root, the English traders were forbid- 
den to sell the dangerous poison. For those apostles of Euro- 
pean civilization the opium trade was however too lucrative 
to be given up. Instead, they organized an extensive smugg- 
ler trade, whereby the opium trade was increased inside of ten 
years (1820-1830) to 16,877 chests per year (See Encyclop. 
Brittanica, Art.: Opium). — When all expostulations of the 
Chinese Government were unavailing, it issued in 1839 a pro- 
clamation to the English traders, threatening hostile measures, 
if the opium ships, serving as depots, were not sent away. 

This demand not being complied with, the Chinese Gov- 
ernment on April 3rd confiscated 20,291 chests of opium, val- 
ued at $2,500,000 and destroyed the same. When, at the 
same time English sailors killed a Chinaman and the English 



— 16 — 

Government refused to give satisfaction, an imperial edict de- 
clared all the trade rights of the English as void and abolished, 
threatening with dire punishment the subjects of all other na- 
tions who would attempt to continue to import English goods 
into China. — John Bull, who thus felt wounded in his most 
sensative spot, the money-bag, declared the edict as casus bel- 
li. At the instigation of the "East India Company" there ap- 
peared a strong English fleet of thirty-five men-of-war and 
seventy-five transports, which blockaded first of all the har- 
bor of Canton and the island of Tshousan opposite Ningpo. 
In 1841 the fleet shelled the forts around the Bocca Tigris, and 
also the cities of Amoy, Tshinghai, Ningpo, Tshapu, Shang- 
hai and Tshingkiang. When the English made ready to also 
bombard Nanking, the Chinese Government, to save this 
Southern capital from destruction, sued for peace. China was 
forced to pay $21,000,000 in war indemnity and cede Hong- 
kong as well as open the harbors of Amoy, Futchou, Ningpo 
and Shanghai to the English trade. The most humiliating of 
the conditions forced upon the Chinese Government was, that 
the latter had to revoke the edict against the opium trade. And 
moreover the English inserted the following paragraph into 
the treaty: "English smugglers shall be exempt from all pun- 
ishment except the confiscation of such goods as are real con- 
traband." And further: "British subjects and ships as well 
as Chinese subjects who have fled aboard British vessels shall 
be under English — not Chinese jurisdiction." After the "East 
India Company" had thus thrust, by force, the opium upon the 
Chinese and opened gate and door to lawlessness it turned 
with might and main to the profitable Opium-trade. How 
successful the Company was in her endeavors is evidenced by 
the statement in the Encyclop. Brit, that the Opium import into 
Chinese ports amounted in 1850 to 52,925 picul at 133 lbs. 
and increased in 1880 to 96,839 picul or 12,911,866 lbs. 
Europeans have often enough described the terrible effects 
which resulted from this enormous consumption of Opium. 
The English physician Willamson, who, in 1874 with his own 
eyes, saw the ravages caused by the use of Opium in Southern 
China, branded the Opium import "as the greatest outrage of 
the 1 9th Century, which had destroyed already the health and 
welfare of over ten million people." He writes: "The Chinese 
Government still hopes to stop further importation of Opium; 
and it is the wish of all well meaning foreigners that it may 
succeed. The Government is afraid of the further distribution 
of the narcotic. And this is the chief reason, why it is opposed 
to build railroads and permit free intercourse with the interior 



— 17 — 

of the country. Our own British merchants inflict upon them- 
selves the greatest harm. Had they not forced upon China the 
import of Opium, the whole empire from one end to the other 
would have been opened long ago. It is the shortsighted 
greed of our merchants, that leaves to their successors a 
crippled trade and the curse of a numerous nation." With 
what hatred the Chinese are filled against the destroyers of 
their nation is evident in a poster which was spread far and 
wide during a revolt against the English and which, in trans- 
lation, reads as follows: "There is a spot on the Globe, called 
England, inhabited by an undisciplined, lawless race. The 
principal design of these people is to harm other nations. In 
boundless self-conceit they swindle, trespass upon the rights 
of other countries and become their suppressors. Their main 
dogma speaks of Jesus Christ. In the light of this dogma, they 
are all devils, endeavoring to lead others astray by their own 
false doctrines. No matter whether a place be rich or poor, 
they spare no efforts to set themselves in possession of it. 
Following their own selfish purposes they create discord 
wherever they go. Their plots take all kinds of forms, which 
are as numerous as the hair on our heads. By all that is good 
and pure: How came this devilish race in our land? How shall 
and can we in these days of peace tolerate these shameless 
demons, these red-bristled barbarians? As things stand, it 
only remains for us to tie ourselves with mutually binding 
oaths to a common purpose and to form a secret society to 
free us from this public calamity." 

Though we find in this appeal laid open the purpose of the 
secret societies for driving out the foreigners, the Chinese have, 
in spite of all endeavors so far not succeeded in getting rid 
of the "red-bristled barbarians." Exploiting regardlessly their 
success in the Opium war, demanding of the Chinese the literal 
fulfilment of the treaties, themselves however not being guided 
by them, the English founded settlements in places where they 
had no right to do so. They promoted the smuggling-trade, 
prevented the punishment of the guilty ones and thereby 
undermined the authority of the Chinese Government. Follow- 
ing the advice of a correspondent of the London "Times": 
that the teeth of the Chinese should be pryed open and the 
English goods driven into their body, if necessary with powder 
and cannon" the English shopkeepers in the treaty-ports acted 
without conscience. In his work "On the Chinese Emigration" 
(1876) the celebrated geographer Friedrich Ratzel gave 
proofs that among the English shopkeepers there existed a 
regular war party, which directed its constant efforts upon the 



— J8 — 

acquirements of more favorable mercantile privileges, and also 
hailed with delight any revolts which might be made a pretext 
of asking enormous indemnities for destroyed merchandise 
and thus get rich quicker and with less effort than would 
have been possible by honest, legitimate trade. 

In regard to the opium-import in China, it must be said 
that the Chinese Government never slackened in its efforts to 
fight the consumption of the poison. Everywhere anti-opium 
societies were founded, the members of which vowed to ab- 
stain entirely from its use and to work for the conversion of 
the habitual smokers. The Christian missionaries were called 
upon for help and to petition, simultaneously with the Foreign 
Office, the English Government to forbid the opium-trade. 
On account of these representations the House of Commons, 
in 1891, with small majority passed a resolution in which it 
admitted that "India's opium-trade is morally indefensible, 
but economic considerations prevent any efforts to discontinue 
it." Since Christianity exists there has never so shamless- 
degrading a declaration of bankruptcy of the Christian prin- 
ciples been passed by a Christian Government. 

For 1 years the situation remained unchanged. Powerless, 
the statesmen of China had to see how the destruction of the 
Nation by English shopkeepers proceeded. Meanwhile these 
scoundrels had cursed also other countries of the Pacific Ocean 
with their devilish dissemination of the opium-vice: Formosa, 
the Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Hawaii 
Islands, Canada and California, from whence the vice spread 
with alarming rapidity to New Orleans, St. Louis, Chicago and 
New York. Startled by the rapid progress of this pernicious 
vice, industrial and religious societies. Chambers of Commerce 
and the International Reform Bureau asked the President of 
the United States to remonstrate with the British Parliament. 
On this instance in 1 906 negotiations were renewed, and when 
discussion came up, some very strong arguments were made. 
Mr. T. C. Taylor, member of Parliament, outlining with force- 
fulness the history of the opium traffic and holding England 
responsible for its continuance, met the arguments and ob- 
jections of the revenue officers with the unanswerable moral 
aphorism: "Wrong cannot be justified by revenue nor misery 
by money." This moral argument was strengthened by the 
opinion of medical men, reference being made to the declar- 
ation of the harmfulness of opium, signed by five thousand 
physicians in 1 892. Embarrassed by these proofs of growing 
anti-opium sentiment the House of Commons this time 
expressed its feelings in the following words: "This House 



__ 19 — 

reaffirms its conviction that the India-Chinese opium-trade is 
'morally indefensible' and requests his Majesty's Government 
to take such steps as may be necessary to bring it speedily to 
a close." 

Instead, however, of at once enacting this deliverance from 
the evil, China, on suggestion of Sir Edward Grey, was forced 
into a contract by which, dating from Jan. 1st. 1908 a gradual 
reduction of the opium-import was to take place until 1917 
when it should cease altogether, provided "China furnished, 
during the first 3 years, the proof that its population was really 
decided to give up the use of Opium." This proof China 
rendered, though ih 1908 the import still amounted to 61,000 
chests, in 1905 to 56,800, and in 1 91 to 5 1,700 cases, or for 
the 3 years 22,600,000 lbs. He who is interested in the recent 
history of the Opium-trade may find information in an article 
in the "Forum" by R. P. Chiles and entitled: "The passing of 
the Opium trade." There he will also find the contemptible 
clauses which are to make it possible for the English Govern- 
ment to draw, in all future the revenues it desires from the 
Opium-trade. The shopkeeper's spirit, which owns the English 
Government as much as it does the nation, leads to the 
apprehension that, after 1917 the opium-trade will find its con- 
tinuation as well in Eastern Asia as over the rest of the world, 
if not in legitimate roads then in illegitimate ones, which to 
take the shopkeepers of England have never hesitated in the 
past nor will in the future. 

England, the Suppressor of the Free Boers. 

English cupidity also robbed those Dutch settlers of house 
and home, who in 1652 had colonized around the tableland of 
South Africa and who led a peaceful existence in the pursuit 
of agriculture and cattle raising. This pastoral life came to an 
end when in 1 795 and 1815 England took possession of Cape- 
land. From now on overburdened with heavy taxes and con- 
stantly oppressed, the Boers decided to quit their old home- 
steads and find new ones north of the Orange River, where 
they would not be molested by English tyranny. Trekking 
into the interior of the continent, they established the free 
States Natal, Oranje, Transvaal and the South African Re- 
public. But their oppressors followed them and stuck close 
to their heels wherever they might transfer their habitation. 
Unfortunately for the Boers diamonds and gold were found in 
their new homesteads. This caused an influx of adventurers 
of every description, and almost immediately England began 
to intrigue to obtain possession. 



— 20 — 

In 1877 Sir Theophilus Shepstone, High Commissioner of 
England in South Africa, announced the annexation of the 
country. But the Boers objected and decisively defeated the 
British at Majuba Hill. The independence of the Boer's 
was recognized and confirmed at the London Convention in 
1884. 

But English greed would not let the matter rest. Promoters 
founded the "British South African Company," better known 
as the "Royal Chartered Co.", which soon obtained an im- 
portance — and quite as ominous — as the "East India Co." 
possessed in Asia. One of the leaders was the son of an English 
dominy: Cecil Rhodes, who possessed all the qualities of his 
English prototype Robert Clive. In a short time he had 
amassed an enormous fortune, becoming known as the 
"Diamond King." In 1 890 he was made Premier of the Cape 
Colony, and conquered Matabeleland and prepared, in col- 
lusion with the English mine owners of the South African Re- 
public, the invasion undertaken by Dr. Jameson. This raid, put 
in action with 1200 men on Dec. 30th 1895, had in view the 
taking unawares, and the abolition, of the government and the 
annexation of the State. But the Boers had been made aware 
of this design and, surrounding the insolent intruders forced 
them on Jan. 1st, 1 896 to surrender. President Krueger, an all 
too mild man, instead of making an example of the raiders by 
having them shot, delivered them to the English Government 
for punishment. But the Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamber- 
lain, the true type of a modern English pirate in dress coat, 
treated the conspirators not only with great leniency, but saw 
to it, that Jameson was indemnified properly, for the fright he 
had suffered, by a brilliant position in South Africa. Jameson 
as well as his conspirators were praised by the English press 
and, by the public, lionized as "heroes." Not less was this the 
case with Cecil Rhodes, the intellectual originator of the raid. 
When summoned by the Parliament, he denied not only all 
knowledge of the scheme, but moreover acted as accuser of 
the Boers. As a matter of course he was allowed to return 
to his post as Premier of the Cape Colony. It was only after 
the Government of Transvaal had proven his guilt beyond all 
doubt, that he resigned as Premier. But an English Official 
can remain a gentleman in English eyes, even if he is a proven 
liar and has perjured himself before the Parliament of his own 
country. 

However this did not free the Boers of their grudges. As is 
m everybody's memory, England in October 1 899 started 
that disgraceful war against Transvaal which lasted until 1 902, 



— 21 — 

cost England its best troops and the reputation of its best 
generals. Let us see, in what benevolent manner England, 
which in her present war simulates abhorrence and dismay 
over the alleged ruthless conduct of the war by the German 
army, achieved finally this success. 

As usual, England employed also in the Boer War savages. 
It was General French who sent Zulus to fight the Boers and 
destroy their property. This happened in violation of the ex- 
press pledge given by Mr. Balfour at the outset of the war. 
The horrible cruelties, committed by these Zulus, incited the 
government of Natal to a strong protest against this mode of 
warfare, which is contrary to all civilized usages. In conse- 
quence of this protest General French was shifted from his 
command in the northwestern Transvaal for barbarous war- 
fare. 

But General French was not the only English "hero" who 
disgraced his name in this cruel war. The great fieldmarshall 
Kitchener did likewise by dragging women and children of the 
fighting Boers from their homes and imprisoning these poor 
defenseless creatures in the so called concentration camps. 

During the month of September 1901 there were 38,022 
women and 54,326 children under Kitchener's tender care. 
As Henry Labouchere, then editor of the "London Truth," 
has stated, 20,000 of these hapless women and children 
perished. The "London Daily News" of November 9th said: 
"The truth is that the death rate in these concentration camps 
is incomparably worse than anything Africa or Asia can show. 
There is nothing to match it even in the mortality figures of the 
Indian famines, where cholera and other epidemics have to be 
contended with." And Reynold's Newspaper (London) of 
October 20th 1901 speaks of the women and children 
"perishing like flies from confinement, fever, bad food, 
pestilential stinks and lack of nursing in these awful death- 
traps." 

Kitchener, who earned during this war the epithets "the 
butcher" and "the blood-hound," gave together with the late 
Lord Roberts the order, that, wherever Boers fired at military 
trains "all the farms should be burned within a radius of ten 
miles." 

The manner in which this order was complied with, is 
illustrated by a letter written by Leutenant Morrison, of th« 
Canadian Artillery, and published in the "London Truth." 
From his account of the sacking of Dullstroom we quote the 
following lines: 

"Dhiriitg the tr»ck our progress was like the old-time forays 



— 22 — 

in the highlands of Scotland, two centuries ago. We moved 
on from valley to valley lifting cattle and sheep, burning, loot- 
ing, and turning out the women and children to sit and weep 
in despair beside the ruins of their once beautiful farmsteads. 
It was the first touch of Kitchener's iron hand — a terrible 
thing to witness. We burned a track about six miles wide 
through those fertile valleys. The column left a trail of fire 
and smoke behind it that could be seen at Belfast. . . . 

"Nobody who was there will ever forget that day's work. 
About 7 o'clock in the morning our force seized the town after 
a little fight. The Boers went into the surrounding hills, and 
there was nobody in the town except women and children. It 
was a very pretty place nestling in a valley. The houses had 
lovely flower gardens and the roses were in bloom. The Boers 
drove in our outposts on the flank and began sniping the 
guns, and amid the row of the cannonade and the crackle of 
rifle fire the sacking of the place began. First there was an 
ominous bluish haze over the town, and then the smoke rolled 
up in volumes that could be seen for fifty miles away. The 
Boers on the hills seemed paralyzed by the sight and stopped 
shooting. The town was very quiet save for the roaring and 
crackle of the flames. On the steps of the church a group of 
women and children were huddled. The women's faces were 
very white, but some of them had spots of red on either cheeks, 
and their eyes were blazing. The troops were systematically 
'looking the place over' (looting), and as they got quite 
through with each house they burned it. As I stood looking, 
a woman turned to me and pathetically exclaimed: *Oh, how 
can you be so cruel!' I sympathized with her and explained 
that it was an order and had to be obeyed. But all the same 
it was an extremely sad sight to see the little homes burning 
and the rose bushes withering up in the pretty garden, and the 
pathetic groups of homeless and distressed women and little 
children weeping in abject misery and despair 2miong the 
smoking ruins as we rode away." 

Such is the sad story told by an officer of the British army. 
Nothing remains for us, but to ask if men, who do not show 
courage enough to resist against their degradation, to hang- 
man's assistants, have any claim to the title soldier, a name, that 
should mean a "defender of the right, a protector of homes 
and the weak." 

A brief extract from a letter, written by President Steyn, of 
the Orange Free State, to Kitchener, in August 1901, throws 
strong light on the behavior of the British defenders: 

"Your Excellency's troops have not hesitated to turn their 



— 23 — 

artillery on these defenseless women and children to capture 
them when they were fleeing with their wagons or alone, whilst 
your troops knew that they were only women and children, 
as happened only recently at Gras-pan on the 6th of June near 
Reitz, where a woman and children laager was captured and 
retaken by us whilst your Excellency's troops took refuge be- 
hind the women; and when reinforcements came they fired 
with artillery and small arms on that woman laager. I can 
mention hundreds of cases of this kind,** etc. 

In the pictures, produced by the "Illustrated London News," 
the "Graphic** and other English periodicals, we don't see 
Tom Atkins, as he is in reality, but as he lives in the imagina- 
tion of Mr. Caton Woodville and other artists, who draw their 
vivid war sketches not on the battlefield, but in their much 
more comfortable studios. 

To return to the Boers, the whole world knows, that after 
a heroic resistance they were finally overwhelmed and 
their land annexed. — Again the blood=tainted crown of Eng- 
land was enriched with some scintillating jewels, though the 
robbing of them had cost the blood, tears and welfare of thou- 
sands of happy and peaceloving families. 

England, the False Friend of the United States. 

Hardly had England thrown France out of her rich colonial 
possessions in North America when her greedy merchants 
forced the Parliament to forbid settlers in English colonies to 
keep up trade-relations with any non-British countries. They 
should be forced to obtain all their necessities from the "moth- 
er land** and deliver their own products to the same. In other 
words: it was demanded of them, to buy their necessities in 
England from British shopkeepers at often usurious prices, and 
sell their own goods to those same shopkeepers for whatever 
these were willing to offer. That these offers were always way 
below prices paid by other countries in free competition goes 
without saying. It was this very law which was one of the 
causes of the Revolutionary War of the English colonies of 
North America. To suppress this revolution the mother land 
employed the vilest means. She committed the most atrocious 
crime when she engaged the Indians as allies and used them 
against her own subjects. The redskins were hired to accom- 
plish a double task. It was expected of them to destroy 
Western settlements and at the same time to attack the colon- 
ists in the rear, while they were engaged in repulsing the at- 
tacks of the British from the coast. By this arrangement the 
British intended to compel the Americans to split up their 



— 24 — 

forces. To crown the infamy and inflame the bloodthirstiness 
of the Indians a prize of $8. was offered for every Americaii 
scalp, be it of man, woman or child. Nothing further was 
needed to stimulate the savages to the wildest blood-orgies. 
In small troops and large bands they roamed all over the bor- 
der territories, attacked every settlement and committed the 
most atrocious massacres. To accomplish this work of de- 
struction the British secured the assistance of the powerful 
chief of the Iroquois: Thayendanegea or Joseph Brandt, who 
devastated with his warriors mainly the western parts of New 
York and Pennsylvania. Burned houses, barns and stables, 
ruined fields, the corpses of scalped men, ravished women and 
murdered children marked the track of the redskins. And in 
the commission of these crimes, British officers and soldiers as 
well as loyal Tories from these localities lent helping hands. 

As is well known England used for the war against the 
Americans also soldiers which they had hired at great expense 
in Germany, the Hessians. This proceeding found even in 
England severe critics. Chatham declared in Parliament: 
"Were I as good an American as I am an Englishman and had 
to behold how a foreign army appeared in my own country 
I would never lie down my arms — never!" These words ex- 
press precisely the deep revolt of all Americans, upon hearing 
that for their suppression England had enlisted foreign hire- 
lings. But the Americans soon had occasion to get enraged 
over still other British treacheries. 

When Congress attempted to meet the prevailing lack of 
currency by the issue of paper money the perfidious Britishers 
used this circumstance to increase the terrible diflficulties of the 
Americans. They turned counterfeiters, imitated the notes is- 
sued by Congress and brought enormous numbers of those fal- 
sifications in circulation. This brought the paper money in 
such discredit that everybody shied from accepting it. The 
depreciation in the value of the paper money increased to such 
a degree that forty paper dollars were necessary to buy one 
silver dollar. A pair of boots cost 400 — 600 paper dollars, 
and the monthly wages of a soldier was just sufficient to buy 
one dinner. That, in spite of all these dreadful obstacles, the 
Independence of the Colonies was established, is the merit of 
the heroism of the colonists, the admirable devotion of George 
Washington and of the patriots who surrounded him. And 
last not least, the co=operation of such true champions of lib- 
erty as Steuben, Kalb. Herchheimer, Miihlenberg. Lafayette 
and many others. And hereby was fulfilled a prediction made 
by Napoleon when in 1803 circumstances compelled him to 



— 25 — 

sell Louisiana to the United States: *'The English want to grab 
the riches and the commerce of all the world. To free the 
nations from England's unbearable commercial tyranny it is 
necessary to balance its influence by a maritime power w^hich 
will be able to wrest their commercial supremacy from them. 
If I strengthen the position of the United States by the cession 
of the Mississippi Valley, then England will find a rival who, 
earlier or later, will dampen her arrogance." — 

That the prophetic words of the far seeing Corsican might 
be fulfilled, became evident to England by the fast growing 
commerce of the United States. Therefore England left noth- 
ing undone to get rid of this new rival in the world's commerce 
and to sustain all movements that might bring about a disrup- 
tion of the Union. The war of 1812 to 1814 meant the first 
attempt for the annihiliation of the Union. While the English 
fleet carried on the war at the coast shelling the American sea- 
ports, the commanders of the land forces again engaged the 
redskins to attack the Americans in the rear. The incessant 
incitement of the English agents succeeded in uniting all tribes 
of the Northwest into one great anti-American alliance, which 
was led by Tecumseh, the famous war chief of the Shawnees. 
Death and destruction in their most terrific forms ruled again 
over all border lands. The year 1812 passed luckily for the 
English. On water and land the Americans suffered heavy 
defeats. Michigan was lost and all western settlements were 
ravished terribly. 

In the two following years the struggle went on with vary- 
ing success. In August 1814 the British took Washington, 
burned the Capitol, the White House and numerous other pub- 
lic buildings. Of course, they did not forget to destroy also 
all American ships on the Potomac. But the enraged resistance 
which the British found in Baltimore and elsewhere, finally 
brought about the peace of Ghent (Dec. 24, 1 81 4), the centen- 
ary of which Americans were impudently invited to celebrate- 
How little reason America had for such a celebration should 
be evident to its promoters when they bring home to their 
mind that the secret and open intrigues of England against the 
States have never ceased and that, in the heart of the English 
shopkeepers now, as ever, glows the ardent wish to sweep 
away this successful rival as they did the others. — Stimulated 
by this desire and to hasten the dissolution of the Union Eng- 
land, at the outbreak of the American Civil War solemnly 
proclaimed her neutrality, while secretly it was a confederate 
of the Confederacy. She assisted the slaveholders by every 
means in her power, recogMiized tkera officially as a belU^^erent 



— 26 — 

nation, by this strengthening their cause and position material- 
ly. More than that! She allowed that recruiting stations were 
opened all over Great Britain for the Confederacy. She sub- 
scribed for immense numbers of the bonds of the Southern 
States. She smuggled arms, ammunition and all kinds of con- 
traband of war to the Confederates, enabling them to continue 
the struggle. She permitted her own consuls in the Northern 
States to act as spies for the South. She established in London 
a press bureau for the dissemination of false reports, which 
spread wholesale rumors of rebel victories and pernicious lies 
about Lincoln and the Union, just as the London press bureaus 
do to-day about the Kaiser and the successes of the Allies. 

Furthermore, England allowed her newspapers to express 
openly the hope **that the Union ,the great snake, might be cut 
in two by the war and rendered powerless." And last but not 
least, England not only opened her ports to the southern pir- 
ate craft, but violated the neutrality laws by building, equip- 
ping and manning a number of southern privateers, among 
them the "Alabama," "Florida," "Shenandoah," "Tallaha- 
see," "Nashville" and others, which served as commerce de- 
stroyers. 

Burning and sinking all prizes, these destroyers swept all 
merchant vessels of the Union from the ocean, during the war, 
causing a loss of over $1 7,000,000. They damaged the over- 
sea trade of the United States so grievously, that, since it has 
never recovered its former prominence. 

But England had to pay for her treacheries. After the war 
was over the States demanded indemnity for the destruction, 
committed by these privateers. A court of arbitration, sitting in 
Geneva, found England guilty of the charges and sentenced it 
to pay to the States $15,500,000. Any one eager for more 
information on this subject, may find it by studying the trans- 
actions of the "Alabama Claims." — 

Numerous acts of more recent date leave us suspicious as to 
England's true sentiments toward our Union. With France it 
persuaded the Austrian Archduke Maximilian to the calami- 
tious attempt to establish an empire in Mexico, hoping there= 
by to kill the Monroe Doctrine and to create for the States a 
neighbor who might some day become very inconvenient. — 

Furthermore England caused the United States endless 
troubles and cares in the Venezuela controversy, in the ques- 
tions regarding the Alaskan boundaries and the Bering Sea 
fisheries; in Mexico, in the present European war and in many 
other instances. 

What future plans England may have in regard to the Pana- 



— n — 

ma Canal is hidden in the folds of the future. Just as England's 
shrewd diplomatists tried to get the better of the States in all 
treaties concerning the Canal it can hardly be assumed that 
during the last decenniums it has strengthened its fortifications 
on the Bermudas, in Jamaica and elsewhere simply for the 
sake of a passing whim. Indeed, with these strongholds in 
the East and South of the States, with Canada in the North 
and Japan as ally in the West, John Bull might some day get 
Brother Jonathan in a tight hole. 

If especially favorable political constellation were ever to 
come, John Bull would hardly remember his pet-phrases: 
"Hands across the sea" and "Blood is thicker than water," 
which are now used after every meal and at bed-time by our 
anglophil Depews and, also by some degenerated American 
diplomatists, who misrepresent our United States. 




"World's History is the World's Judgment/' 

The British Black Book 

s, as all readers agree, one of the most remarkable and strongest books 
sver published in the United States. Based on irrefutable historical 
'acts, it gives an inside view of England's share in the present war. 
its main object is to promote true Americanism and the spirit of fair 
}lay. Therefore it appeals to all who wish to uphold the noble vir- 
ises of Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, 
jeorge Washington, Baron von Steuben and other heroes, who 
aught in 1775 to 1783, and in 1812 to 1814 for justice and liberty. 

As the "British Black Book" stands for true American ideals, 
nany editors of papers and periodicals, published in America, but 
mder British influence, have ignored this book and suppress it, in 
>rder to withhold from their readers the real facts in regard to the 
>rigin and events of the present European War. 

If your dealer does not carry the "British Black Book," send 
me dollar in check or money order to the author 

RUDOLF CRONAU 

340 EAST 198th STREET 

NEW YORK 

ind the book will be forwarded to you by return mail. If ten copies 
ure ordered 40 per cent discount edlowed. 



Views about "The British Black Book". 

"Permit me to congratulate you upon the publication of the 
^British Black Book." The name is particularly striking and apro- 
>os. The book itself is also very impressive. Certainly you are to be 
:ongratulated upon the zeal and work which produced this excellent 
;ontribution to present day questions. The misfortune of it all is that 
>iir public press does not want the public enlightened on these mat- 
ers and, therefore, they have refused to let the people know that such 
I compendium of facts exists. This condition, however, should not 
ibcourage those who love truth and justice. On the contrary, it 
should encourage us to greater activity." 

Jeremiah O'Leary 
President of American Truth Society, New York. 



**The British Black Book'* is a useful work of propaganda for 
all who believe in the justice of the German cause. Few methods of 
treatment are more convincing than that of adducing a nation's own 
testimony as a means of reproach. Mr. Cronau has employed it to 
full advantage." 

Professor Wm. R. Shepherd, Columbia University, New York. 

"The facts, given in this work^ are so striking and to the point, 
that every man from the street is able to understand them. Certainly 
it is the most comprehensive, most convincing and most valuable of 
all war books, that have appeared so far." 

Professor R. C. Schiedt 
Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa. 

"This is certainly the most fearless book that ever came to my 
notice*" E. T . . . (Authoress). 

"Permit me to convey my sense of gratitude for the real service 
you rendered in your collection of facts. I read the work with the 
greatest interest and wish it the widest circulation." 

Professor Thomas C. Hall, New York. 

"Your "British Black Book" is wonderful, it must be put in a 
million hands at least." 

Dr. N. K . . ., New York. 

"The British Black Book" is a very great contribution to the War 
Hbtory, — in some respect the greatest." 

Hon. James MacGuire, Ex-Mayor of Syracuse, N. Y. 

"Of this book, about the best written yet on the war situation, 
there should be at least 100,000 copies distributed all over the United 
States." 

F. V. Frantzius, Chicago. 

"From the first to the last page this book is an enlightment. 
German- Americans can not give greater help to their own cause, to the 
cause of the United States and to truth and justice, than by distributing 
this wonderful book sunong their Anglo-American fellow-citizens. 
Especially they should have their own children read it with greatest 
attention." 

The Baltimore Correspondent. 

"This "British Black Book" is the most terrible arraignment of 
English aggression ever published, giving a running account of the 
manner in which England has for centuries taken advantage of every 
other nation to get; possession of its commerce. With its first two 
chapters in mind, a reader has the key to England's present purpose 
and line of campaign. The author holds our attention to the last word 
of the volume. The price of the book is $1.00. It is worth five times 
more than that" The Fatherland. 



p. p 

Die ergebenst unterzeichnete Verlagsbuchhandlung beehrt 
sich, Ihnen hierdurch die erfreuliche Mitteilung zu machen, dass 
die im Jahre 1909 erschienene Erstauflage des von Herrn Rudolf 
Cronau in New York verfassten und seitens der Universitat Chi- 
cago preisgekronten und mit 220 Illustrationen geschmiickten 
Werkes 

im 3alfri|un&^rl^ httXtBtl^m ^tbrna in Am^rika 

sowohl in den Vereinigten Staaten wie in Deutschland eine so 
iiberaus giinstige Aufnahme gefunden hat, dass eine Neuauflage 
notwendig geworden ist. Diese soUte bis zum Herbst des ver- 
gangenen Jahres erscheinen, und zwar nicht nur in Text und Bil- 
derschmuck wesentlich erweitert, sondern auch in so glanzender 
Ausstattung, dass das Werk in jeder Hinsicht als das 

arljottflt? Elir^nburli htB irutarlytuma Amprtkaa 

b'ezeichnet werden kann. Der unselige Krieg verhinderte die 
Ausgabe des Werks zu der festgesetzten Zeit, doch hofft die Ver- 
lagshandlung, dies im Laufe dieses Jahres thun zu konnen. 

Um die notige Hohe der Neuauflage einigermassen bestim- 
men zu konnen, gestattet sich die Verlagshandlung die ergebene 
Anfrage, ob sie auf ein Exemplar dieser neuen Ausgabe reflek- 
tieren. Falls Sie Ihre Bestellung schon jetzt aufgeben, werden 
Sie das in einen kiinstlerisch vollendeten, reich mit Golddruck 
versehenen Einband gebundene Werk, dessen Ladenpreis spater 
4 Dollars betragen wird, sofort nach Erscheinen zu dem Vorzugs- 
preis von 3 Dollars portofrei zugeschickt erhalten. Wollen Sie 
das Buck irgendwelchen in der alien Heimat zurilckgelassenen 
Angehbrigen und Freunden zum Geschenk mnchen, so uhernimmt 
die Verlagshandlung zu dem gleichen Betrag auch die portofreie 
Zusendung on irgend eine Adresse in Deutschland. 

Der Bequemlichkeit und Vereinfachung der Geschafte wegen 
bitten wir, Bestellungen an den Verfasser des Buches, Herrn 
Rudolf Cronau, 340 Bast 198. Strasse, Nezv York, gelangen zu 
lassen. 

In vorziiglicher Hochachtung 

Die Verlagsbuchhandlung Dietrich Reimer 

(Inhaber Konsul E. Vohsen) 

Berlin, Wilhelmstrasse 29. 



Wie die erste Auflage des Werkes 

von massgebenden Personen und Zeitungen der alten 
und neuen Welt beurteilt wurde: 

„Indem Cronau sein reich illustriertes, auf sorgfaltigen Studien 
beruhendes, in Stil und Darstellung interessantes, in seinem Ma- 
terial griindlich und wohlfundiertes Buch schrieb, machte er zwei 
Volker zu seinen Schuldncrn." 

Professor Benj. Ide Wheeler, Prasident der Kali- 
fornischen Universitat zu Berkeley, Inhaber 
der Berliner Roosevelt-Professur, im „Berli- 
ner Tageblatt" vom 10. Nov. 1909. 

„Cronaus Buch ist eine nationale Tat." 

„Leipziger Illustrierte Zeitung." 

„Cronaus Buch giht uns das Recht, uns gleichherechtigt neben 
ufisere Mithiirger englischen Stammes su stellen und fur unsere 
Sprache die Anerkennung und Achtiuig zu verlangen, die ihr 
kraft ihrer Stellung in der Weltliteratur gehiihrt." 

„Mississippi Blatter", St. Louis, 17. Oktober 1909. 

„Bin Born des Wissens und der Aufkldrung . . . Einem Ro- 
mane gleich fliesst die Sprache dahin und der Leser wird schon 
nach den ersten Zeilen von der packenden Weise ergriffen, in 
der das Buch geschrieben ist. Fiir die Propaganda des Deutsch- 
Amerikanischen Nationalhundes, dessen Mitbegriinder Rudolf 
Cronau ist, hat er ein Hilfsmittel geschaffen, das unschdtsbar ist." 
„Freie Presse", Brooklyn, 17. Oktober 1909. 

„Das neueste Werk des beriihrntesten und auf beiden Seiten 
des Ozeans gleich b'ekannten deutsch-amerikanischen Sohriftstel- 
lers prasentiert sich in der vornehmsten und gediegensten Form. 
Papier, Druck und Illustrationen sind dem vorziiglichen, fiir uns 
Deutschamerikaner gar nicht hoch genug zu schdtzenden Inhalt 
angepasst. Lange hat man vergeblich auf einen Geschiohtsschrei- 
ber gewartet, der die Geschichte der Deutschen in Amerika von 
ihrem ersten An fang bis heute niederschrieb. Rudolf Cronau hat 
mit seinem neuen grilndlichen und vorziiglichen Werk eine Ar- 
beit vollbracht, die das hbchste Lob verdient." 

„Iowa Reform", Davenport, 18. Oktober 1909. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



018 465 332 1 



What every American should read: 

Germans as Exponents of 
Culture 



By 
FRITZ VON FRANTZIUS 



IN ANSWER TO AN ARTICLE BY 
PROFESSOR BRANDER MATTHEWS 
OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE 
"NEW YORK TIMES" OF SEPT. 20, 1914 



Order from the Author: 

FRITZ VON FRANTZIUS 
1 22 South La Salle Street, Chicago, III. 



